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AntiAging Skin Care Product Evaluation

How to Do Your Own Product Evaluations

How to Evaluate Your AntiAging Purchases

The Proof is in the … Clinical Trial

In another article about Lutein, I deliberately used a quite clumsy run-on

sentence to describe a clinical trial:

“Just this month (May 2007), the results of a sizeable (120 women aged 25 to 50), 12- week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study on FloraGLO Lutein was published in the journal of Skin Pharmacology and Physiology.”

My point was that every aspect of the study design increased its probative power. It was a “clinical trial” meaning that results were measured rather than observed or reported. The study was “sizable”. In other words, the results could not easily be attributed to chance. The study was long enough to achieve measurable results.

The treatments (lutein supplement, topical lutein, topical and oral lutein, or placebo) were allocated to subjects randomly to assure that the different treatment groups were statistically equivalent.

This study was also double-blind, meaning neither the subjects nor the researchers knew which subjects were receiving which treatments – until it came time to tally the results.

Finally this study included placebos so that researchers could gauge and discount the placebo effect. It is well-known that if a subject expects a new treatment to work, there will be some improvement even if that particular subject is given a placebo (an inactive pill or cream that has no treatment value).

This is the type of study I search for when I evaluate new cosmeceutical or nutraceutical ingredients.

But Observed Results are Nice Too

The other day, my hubby looked at me closely and commented, “You know, your Thermage is still working. Your face looks younger every day.”

I had a Thermage face lift last September. That’s almost nine months ago – long past when most people say the final results are clear.

Problem with my DH’s (dear hubby’s) observation is that it is just that – an observation – albeit from a credible source. I mean I don’t get such compliments often.

More often it’s something like, “You’re wearing that to the party!?” Still a third party observation is better than a self report, which is what I get when I look in the mirror and think I see an ever-so-slight improvement.

In addition, my Thermage results have been contaminated. After all, I haven’t been living in a bubble these past nine months. I’ve added new peptides to my skincare routine.

I’ve added alpha lipoic acid to my daily supplement routine and just recently dropped the vitamin C.

See what I mean? How can I know how much of the improvement is due to the Thermage? Should I add back the high-potency vitamin C? That was one of the things my Thermage doctor recommended. Maybe it really helped.

This is why, when I review new products or ingredients, I look for hard scientific data first.

Web Forums and User Reviews

The Internet contains a wealth of information; but also a wealth of misinformation. One area of the Internet I find particularly susceptible to misinformation is web forums and user reviews posted on retail sites.

Anyone can put just about anything on these sites (as long as it’s not objectionable). Currently, there is no way to vet the information and separate fact from opinion – or bald-faced lie.

One particular example stands out in my mind. I was following a thread on a forum regarding the risks of Thermage – after which I issued this Thermage warning.

There were posters who reported devastating Thermage results and posters defending the safety of the procedure. The proponents were accused of being practitioners of Thermage trying to protect their livelihood.

One woman who claimed a bad result was accused of actually being a male lawyer from Philadelphia trying to drum up clients for a class action lawsuit! Pretty soon, several other posters were chiming in with accusations against this person. Sounds credible, right? We know there is no shortage of sleazy lawyers, right?

But, guess what. I Googled the alleged lawyer’s name and searched the Philadelphia newspapers and the Philly phone book. No such lawyer appears to exist. There is no class action lawsuit yet. The accusations appear to be totally unfounded.

If you’re looking for information on forums and in retail site user reviews, always ask yourself what other possible motivation the poster might have. S/he might be a sales rep, a practitioner, a company representative, simply someone with “an axe to grind” rather than someone wanting to provide real facts.

Whom can you Trust?

If you want the real scoop on new antiaging ingredients or treatments, whom or what can you trust?

You can do your own basic research as I do.

For example, when considering a new cream or lotion, start by skipping past all the marketing hype and read the ingredient list. If you come upon an ingredient you don’t recognize, use your Internet browser’s search box to find a definition. I usually type “define ‘x’”.

That should bring up an actual definition rather than a list of products that contain the ingredient.

Paula Begoun has a very good antiaging skin care ingredient dictionary on-line. Wikipedia often has very helpful info.

Paula’s book Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter without Me and Milady’s Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary are also good reference sources.

When a new antiaging ingredient first hits the market, you need to dig a bit deeper. In such cases, you have to evaluate the clinical studies and scientific research supporting the ingredient’s antiaging properties.

For this you need a bit of statistics knowledge and an understanding of what makes a credible study. If this is more effort than you want to put into selecting your antiaging products or treatments, ask someone you trust.

There are many publications like Consumers Reports or Consumers Digest that occasionally test antiaging products. WebMD is a very credible source. There are the two books cited above. In other words, there is a lot of information out there.

Consider what you read with a grain of salt. Don't believe the pie-in-the-sky hype. But on the other hand carefully read articles that claim that no antiaging skin care product will work. It has been my experience that, in many cases, the details don't quite support the headlines.

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